Morris: Hogs want more from Pettway, Bell

In this file photo, Arkansas wide receiver La’Michael Pettway (16) celebrates a touchdown during a game between the Razorbacks and the Alcorn State Braves in Little Rock.(Photo11: Alan Jamison/Nate Allen Sports Service)

FAYETTEVILLE – The conclusion of the University of Arkansas’ summer school semester this afternoon precedes the official beginning of the Razorbacks preseason football practice by just hours.

New head coach Chad Morris' squad starts tonight and Saturday with practices which are mandated by the NCAA to be no pads and no intentional contact. Teams gradually begin adding equipment Monday, after Sunday’s off day.

The first full week of the preseason pace peaks with the first preseason full scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 11.

Though the Razorbacks have been attending summer classes and working out in Fayetteville, Thursday night marked their official reporting date and weigh-ins for the 110 players commencing preseason practice, before the practice roster increases with the Aug. 20 start of fall semester classes.

“We’ll have a big weigh-in and do it by position and have meetings that (Thursday) night,” Morris said when addressing media Monday. “Friday we’ll start this thing out and it will be more scheduled, kind of like if we were in school that first Friday.”

It should be a warmup for Saturday — also a warmup including the Saturday afternoon Media Day session of interviews and photos — for a busy next week.

“Our Saturday is really the first day in camp, in my opinion, as far as the tradition and style of camp where you are there for the most part all day,” Morris said. “We’ll practice Saturday and be off on Sunday. Now, you can have 2-hour meetings with them on Sunday. Then we’ll step in and Monday through Thursday, step in on them pretty hard. We’re going to bear down on them and we’ll get to some live work. Friday we’ll scale back a little bit and get into Saturday with our first scrimmage.”

Although it’s a new head coach, new strength coach (Trumain Carroll) and nearly an entirely new coaching staff — tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. and defensive tackles coach John Scott Jr. are the lone full-time coaching returnees from former Coach Bret Bielema’s 2017 staff — starting fresh, Morris accelerates the timetable on some flashing enough talent during spring drills for him to believe they should have produced more in the past than they have.

Fourth-year junior defensive end Jamario Bell and fourth-year junior receiver La’Michael Pettway are among several that Morris named of whom he said the clock ticks.

Bell and Pettway were emphasized particularly because for spring drills, both finished with a flourish.

Pettway’s six catches for 91 yards led all receivers at the Red-White intrasquad game closing spring drills in Little Rock.

“I think you saw what La’Michael Pettway did during the spring game,” Morris said. “That was his best day. Our word to him all summer long has been consistency. We have to see consistency on the field, consistency in the weight room, just consistency all across what you do.”

“LaMichael Pettway dropped from 224 to 219,” Carroll said. “His body fat, however, went from 11.3 percent down to 7 percent. So he’s a guy that really transformed his body and he was already a good-looking guy to start off with.”

Bell’s five tackles during the Red-White game included two sacks. And he forced a fumble.

“Jamario Bell is a young man that you saw flashes, saw some good things out of him in spring ball,” Morris said. “But he and Pettway are a lot on the same category. Consistency is the key. It’s time. You’ve been here long enough, now let’s go. Let’s put some work in and let’s make some progress.”

Bell, redshirted in 2015 and was wasted in 2016 after he moved from the defensive line to an already stacked group at tight end. He did make a big move in last year’s summer preseason, only to break his foot. He wasn’t fit to play until the season’s final two games.